Aeon Speculative Fiction's topics - tribe.net

Server down?

2007-12-20T06:42:28Z

At the time I posted this, your server seems to be down. E-mail bounces, and your web site URL goes to a 404 page.

Gene van Troyer

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Coming to Radcon?

2007-12-15T19:19:38Z

The Aeon Editors will be attending Radcon 2008 as Small Press Guests of Honor.

This year's Radcon will be held 15-17 February (Presidents Day Weekend) at the Pasco Red Lion Hotel in Pasco WA.

Writer Guest is Harry Turtledove, Short Fiction Guest is David Levine, Toastmaster is Jay Lake. Is it a coincidence that the latter two are Aeon authors? Probably.

The Small Press Room will be open as usual for laid-back socializing all weekend, and the usual (but never ordinary) Small Press Party will be held on Saturday night; attendance is a must for all the intelligentsia, cognoscenti, and other large Latin words.

Buy your Radcon Membership for $35 ($30 before 1 January 2008). If you live anywhere in the general Pacific Northwest, you really should get acquainted with this excellent, literature-friendly convention.

More info at
http://www.radcon.org/

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon Twelve on sale at ElectricStory.com

2007-12-09T18:03:02Z

As of 30 November, Aeon's twelfth issue is available from http://www.electricstory.com/. It will be available from Fictionwise.com around the 10th of December.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Aeon Goes Pro

2007-11-29T00:22:57Z

Seattle, WA – Aeon Speculative Fiction, the quarterly electronic magazine now in its fourth year of publication, announced today that it will double its pay rate with issue Thirteen, raising it from three to six cents per word.

“We’re thrilled to be able to give our authors a better deal,” said Bridget McKenna, Aeon co-editor. “And so far, they don’t seem to mind, either.” Authors with stories already contracted for issues Thirteen and beyond will receive revised contracts reflecting the pay increase.

Aeon Twelve is due out on November 30, and features stories by Dev Agarwal, Sarah L. Edwards, John Kratman, David D. Levine, Lisa Mantchev, Lawrence M. Schoen, and Katherine Sparrow, poetry by Bruce Boston, and columns by Dr. Rob Furey and Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Aeon Speculative Fiction, along with The Internet Review of Science Fiction, is published by Quintamid, LLC, with offices in Seattle’s Pioneer Square district. Aeon is edited by Bridget McKenna and Marti McKenna.

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/
http://www.irosf.com/

Contact: editors@aeonmagazine.com

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Back from the dead and ready to party

2007-11-27T18:43:48Z

We've been a bit absent from Tribe lately, but it's time to put that period of inactivity in the past along with low-def TV, mullets, butt-rock bands, and $2 gasoline.

I'm back from the UK now, living in the Maple Leaf neighborhood (they call it that, but there's no blinkin' NEIGHBORHOOD there) of Seattle. We're making magazines in our new Pioneer Square offices (as opposed to our OLD Pioneer Square offices) and getting ready for a big Aeon announcement.

Watch this Tribe...

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

OryCon 2007

2007-11-27T02:39:14Z

The Aeon editorial crew recently attended Orycon in Portland OR for a laid-back time forming bar-table amoebas and talking to old friends and some new ones. We don't tend to work Orycon as pros, but use those three days to catch up. Hi to everyone we saw there, and to those we missed, and to those who missed the whole thing. This year's Ory was smallish, and many of our favorite people were entirely absent and much missed.

Orycon was the debut con for our Editorial Assistant, Stacey Janssen. She got a taste of what cons are like and was not, we like to think, overwhelmed. She was still smiling on Sunday night, if that's any indication.

So thanks for the company and conversation if we saw you, sorry we missed you if we didn't. Au revoir next year in Portland.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Here I go again...

2007-03-21T15:51:10Z

...off to the UK until September. Read all about it:

http://1001teatimes.blogspot.com/

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Star Wars on Trial

2007-03-08T14:57:38Z

I'm just about finished with a book published by BenBella with the above title. It discusses whether Star Wars (all of it, the movies, the knock off books, the toys, everything) has been good for science fiction. There are actually a bunch of charges. That was one of them. Others were that it was really fantasy disguised as Science Fiction, another was that it pushed real science fiction from the book shelves and another was that it portrayed women as weak. There were several others but those were the big ones from my stand point.

Now the question: What's your take on Star Wars Good bad or indifferent to the health of the genre?

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

Erasing Sherlock, by Kelly Hale

2007-02-09T17:44:43Z

Hi all. After what seems like forever, my novel Erasing Sherlock is oficially published and available for sale everywhere - ish. On amazon.com, amzon.co.uk, and amazon.ca. The cover sucks, the publisher lost their distributor right before mine was released, the editing was hell, but, but, but -- it's got a good buzz going, and three of the reviews at the amazon site are by people I DON'T EVEN KNOW:-)

Aeon is mentioned (Aeon 4 in particular) in the author's bio because I love you guys. You were the first sale of short fiction after twenty-five years of writing it..

Congrats on all the smashing reviews for the magazine. It is, and continues to be, beautiful.

Kel

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Aeon Nine On Sale Now

2007-01-22T22:03:09Z

Aeon Nine is live at
http://www.electricstory.com/books/book.aspx?bookid=641&afid=1002

Buy it now and get a 20% discount off the already rock-bottom cover price of US$5.

The issue has been posted to Fictionwise, but it always takes them at least a week to put up a new title. We'll let you know when they have it, but we'd be thrilled if you gave your business to the wonderful folks at Electric Story.

Thanks to our wonderful authors for another terrific issue of Aeon Speculative Fiction.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

I'm Back

2006-12-13T01:12:14Z

They rewrote the TOU, the original owner retook control, and Tribe is back, so am I.

Bridget, Marti, my friend Tim told me that he met and chatted with you at some West Coast Cons.

My writing group colleague, Brandon Sigrist, won Writers of the Future.

And I'm back to writing.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 13 replies

Book Reviews

2006-12-12T13:46:52Z

If anyone's interested, I've been doing book and magazine reviews.

http://cvrick.typepad.com/reviews/

If I had to review my reviews, I'd say hit and miss.

- Rick

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

2006-12-06T22:01:13Z

We'd like to take a moment to express our thanks to those of our authors (far too many to name accurately) who make mention of us on their websites. Many mention their sales and appearances, many provide links to our site, and a few even link to the Aeon preview page for the issue(s) they're appearing in.

We'd like you to know we get a warm, fuzzy glow when we visit an Aeon author's page and see our name. It makes us feel like we're doing something right. And with the excellent authors we've got writing for us, I think maybe we are.

Gracias, merci, danke schon, grazie, tak, mahalo, ashante, xie xie, go raibh maith agaibh, shukran gazilan. You guys rock.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon Nine Preview Page is Live

2006-11-21T01:28:01Z

Yep, it's time to go take a look at some of the wonderful things you'll be reading in Aeon Nine (you WILL be reading Aeon Nine, won't you...?). Tune in to our Aeon Nine preview of stories and illustrations at http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeonnine.html, and don't be shy -- let us know what you think!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Locus on Aeon Eight

2006-11-13T20:05:19Z

Locus - Nick Gevers

"Meanwhile, Aeon, published by Scorpius Digital, has reached issue eight, and also delivers very literate fiction - if more playful than that in Polyphony. This time, the highlight is undoubtedly "Palaces of Force" by Martin McGrath, an alternate history/secret history involving an apocryphal meeting between Mahatma Ghandi, still a young lawyer, and the doomed Irish patriot Roger Casement on a train to the Paris Exposition of 1889. Set down many decades later by one of Ghandi's friends, their conversations are eloquent foreshadowings of the technological and ideological dilemmas of the ensuing centuries, and the concluding note is craftily indeterminate. An instructive speculation. Of interest also are "Echo Beach" by Daniel Marcus, concerning a barkeep at the end of time (or at least when our Sun goes nova); "Playing Dice" by Ron Savage, which proposes different career paths for Albert Einstein, the quantum laws he denounced modulating his being; and "Thinking" by Lawrence M. Schoen, which interrogates academic examination methods with ferocious vigor."

Locus - Rich Horton
"Aeon is an electronically distributed magazine with a provocative personality of its own. They publish a mix of poetry, features, including science articles by Rob Furey and essays by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and a wide variety of generally exotic fiction. The best story in issue eight was Will McIntosh's "Oxy", set in a far future where environmental change and human change result in people with distinctly different personalities coexisting."

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Hathors Sister

2006-10-27T18:14:25Z

Dear Friends, we have a new tribe
You are welcome to join us:
http://tribes.tribe.net/hathorssister

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

While we're at it...

2006-10-07T02:01:33Z

While we were trumpeting the Aeon Authors' Honorable Mentions in YBFH and YBSF for 2005, we neglected to mention that stories in the one issue of Aeon published in 2004 earned FIVE HMs from Year's Best Science Fiction (we don't have the info for Year's Best Fantasy and Horror for 2004), and those are as follows, alphabetically by author:

Jay Lake, "A Mythic Fear of the Sea"
Holly Wade Matter, "The Russian Winter"
John Meaney, "Blood and Verse"
Lori Ann White, "Silver Land"
Walter Jon Williams, "Logs"

Congratulations to all involved. Yer wonderful altogether.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

Does anyone know what is happening with Tribe formating lately?

2006-09-28T22:11:35Z

Tribe was down for a couple days, now it is back but changed. Anyone know why?
My page is messed up and can't edit it back.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Aeon Authors' Honorable Mentions - Year's Best SF

2006-09-28T20:26:52Z

It's official: Aeon has the most wonderful authors in the universe.

Six Aeon Authors were awarded seven honorable mentions in Year's Best Science Fiction 23, edited by Gardner Dozois. They're listed below in alphabetical order:

Laura Ann Gilman, “End of Day,” Aeon Four
Howard V. Hendrix, “The Self-Healing Sky,” Aeon Two
“Waiting for Citizen Goedel,” Aeon Five
Jay Lake, “Green,” Aeon Five
Carrie Richerson, “A Game of Cards,” Aeon Four
Justin Stanchfield, “Gypsy Wings,” Aeon Five
Renee Stern, “Fire and Ice,” Aeon Five

Full story at http://www.aeonmagazine.com/weblog.html

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Rainforest Writers Village

2006-09-17T23:06:35Z

Received from Patrick and Honna Swenson of Talebones and Fairwood Press. Important survey on website (URL at end of message)
-----------

Hello fellow writer-types!

Talebones & Fairwood Press are sponsoring a new writers retreat called the RAINFOREST WRITERS VILLAGE, to be held March 22-25th, 2007 on the Olympic Peninsula at the Rain Forest Resort Village on Lake Quinault, Washington.

Writers of all shapes, sizes and skill, you are hereby invited! And right off the bat, you're invited to go to our brand new website to take part in an important survey.

Honna and I have always dreamed of doing something like this, even as early as 1995 when Talebones magazine began. We wanted to create a place for solitary writing in an isolated environment with other writers. It's in the boonies, remote, but not TOO remote. Anyway, we've got a lot of information on the website. It's not ALL there yet, but enough of it is so you can get the idea.

Keeping with the idea of having a haven for writing, we're only inviting two paid guests who will be in-residence and offer some type of instruction or talks during the weekend, but we're pretty sure that other published writers will want to come and get away, relax, and stretch their writing muscles. And when we know who those are, we'll be certainly talking to a few of them about participating. But again, we're not going to be running this like a big conference with multi-track programming. We'll promote minimal distractions. Promote writing. Promote quiet moments networking at a resort filled completely with writers! (As of now, the owners have blocked off the entire resort for us.) It's a relatively small resort with limited number of rooms and cabins (yes, cabins! some with fireplaces, kitchens...), with a total of about 25 total rooms, so we expect it will fill up fast. Although alternate lodging is available on the lake, we can't say for sure at this point what our cut-off will be numbers-wise for retreat attendees.

Our first two guests will actually be three:

JAY LAKE, John W. Campbell Award winner, author of Rocket Science (Fairwood), Trial of Flowers (Night Shade), and the forthcoming Mainspring (Tor). Jay hails from Portland, OR; and

BARB & JC HENDEE, authors of the bestselling NOBLE DEAD series of books from ROC. The Hendees live in the Denver, Colorado area.

And while these authors are SF/Fantasy writers, our retreat is not limited to writers writing in that genre. Not by any means! Presentations offered will be geared toward benefiting ALL writers.

Enough blabbing. The website is at http://www.rainforestwritersvillage.com. Once there, do nose around and see what's up, but please help us out by clicking on the right-side link to take our short survey. Also, since we're not up and running yet with registration, please take a moment to sign up on the mailing list to keep updated on what's new.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

YBFH Honorable Mentions for Aeon Stories

2006-08-31T19:26:02Z

Congratulations to our authors who received honorable mentions from "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror"

“Puppet People” by Bruce Boston;
“Green” by Jay Lake;
“The Henry and the Martha” by Ken Rand;
“Wallamelon” by Nisi Shawl;
“Gypsy Wings” by Justin Stanchfield;
“The Tinker’s Child” by M. Thomas.

You rock. Every one of you.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon Six Reviewed

2006-06-09T04:44:43Z

At Tangent Online:

http://tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=734&Itemid=267

The reviewer didn't care for a couple of stories, but from his reviews, I'd say he didn't "get" at least one of them.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 6 replies

Aeon Six

2006-04-25T18:56:08Z

Just to let y'all know, Aeon Six was published on 3/1, a bit later than we wanted, but that's the way it goes.... Should be up on Electric Story.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 9 replies

Locus Recommended!

2006-04-14T18:34:39Z

We were so far behind in EVERYTHING that we didn't know that Justin Stanchfield's story "Gypsy Wings" (Aeon Five) had made Locus' Recommended reading list in January.

So congratulations to Justin, and does anyone else have any news on the reviews front that might have (probably did) get past us?

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Trip Blog from your traveling editor

2006-04-14T18:32:19Z

http://1001teatimes.blogspot.com/

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 3 replies

What's Up

2006-03-02T18:43:17Z

We've just moved our office for the second time in as many months (short but dull story), so we're a little behind at the moment. If you're waiting to hear from us for any reason, have faith, or in the absence of faith, ping us again. ;)

Marti

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

Aeon Speculative Fiction

2006-02-06T20:58:26Z

why doesnt Aeon publish thier own tribe on thier website for the authors, editors, fans to use??

then we wouldnt be depended on tribe and put up with a crappy site and cencorship

any ideas on this??

- steve

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

This is one I really regret.

2006-02-03T16:27:51Z

I'm leaving tribe.net in protest. They are not only censorship political speech and expression now, but they have a TOU which grants them all rights to content (writing, art, photography) we place on here. For example, I have a private tribe where I run a small writing group . . . everything posted to that tribe would belong to them now.

I was starting to get to know all of you here at Aeon and really enjoying the company of writers and editors . . . it's a community, better than any online e-mail list, group, board, or chatroom I've seen.

Unfortunately, I feel very strongly about this issue of censorship. I joined the military and fought in a war because I believed that there are things in our Constitution worth dying for. I won't be part of any organization in my private life (and tribe is a part of my private life) in which censorship is used.

I'll keep my profile for a week while I appoint new moderators for my tribes.

My profile blog has more explanation if you're interested.

- Rick

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 11 replies

software for writers

2006-02-02T15:11:06Z

does anyone here use any kind of software for writing purposes??

i just purchased writers blocks and will be downloading it shortly once i get the conformation email...gonna give it a try and see what i can do with it...u can download a trial version and try it out before u buy....here is the address:
http://www.writersblocks.com/

its not for the faint of heart if your on a tight buget ( worth 150.00 )

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

CENSORING ON TRIBE- with link to original thread

2006-01-22T06:19:23Z

Some thoughts on the new tribe changes prior to redefining the argument.

http://people.tribe.net/mike_c/blog&topicId=ff1e1658-1d32-43f7-b68c-ef13ddcfefdb

CENSORING ON TRIBE
**"obscenity" tends to be something which represents a community standard. This differs from "sexually explicit conduct" in that the latter is defined tightly in Section 2257.**

If the community standard is Tribe itself, by creating community flagging without a vote "you" are implimenting an action that will override the community and kill Tribe. This may not be your decision -- it may be the advice given to you by a professional government sponsored 'advisor' or your lawyer following a memo from the advisor. If you would like, you can substitute advisor for 'troll' at any time in the discussion.

**Since you're in the numerical minority on this, you will be censored. It's quite simple.

People who want to discuss the dominant version of monogamous heterosexual relationships will still be able to.

Sluts, queers, polyamorists, BDSM practitioners, and basically anyone who is in the minority will be censored - because our very existence "offends" the majority. Forget free speech, "community standards" apparently trump that, even though there is nothing in the Constitution about "community standards." **

Will there be a standard or dividing line? The law is purposely vague on that as it bases obscenity on community standards. If you were to go back fifty years, community standards were Jim Crow and black people seated at the back of the bus. This proves that going by community standards doesn't automatically make it right and when the case comes up, odd are the lawyers are going to point this out at the trial. The same rule goes for alternative lifestyle issues.

However, on tribe there will be no dividing line. In order to be completely safe, they will delete all sexual material because it would expose a hypocrisy and make them 'the bad guy'. Not only straight sex or gay sex will be deleted but implied sex, blue language and innuendo. If someone wanted to visit my 'catastrophic plumbing tribe' and having read about having to work in a shower of shit or crawling through a dead cat when it was in the way of an enclosed space repair, that might be considered obscene. If somewhere online, the government speculates that there's some Albert Fish wandering around jerking off to the content, doing the repair might be considered 'sexually explicit'. The same argument says that eliminating child porn = eliminating all sexual content, the logic again being that smoking pot leads to shooting heroin.

Shatter should immediatly say that this is an absurd argument, and he's right. The question here is who gets to decide what's absurd. Absurdity is relative when you start throwing in words like 'community standards', something that's amazingly hypocritical when you consider the amount of 'pornographic' and pay sites online. Child porn online may be what the government is cracking down on, but it's convenient as a trojan horse to get all the racy material out of the way. And as you get the racy images out of the way, mature content begins to get redefined as community standards change.

Wade, Warren, Paul, Gary: The amount of work you are going to do in censoring Tribe is going to be extrordinary. Maybe in the first week, it will be a novelty -- but eventually it's gonna piss you off, get you sickened with the whole mess and make you lazy with evaluating community flags. If you are looking for obscene images, you are going to have to look through everything . . . unless there is something Shatter knows about where data or code itself has tags on it that are automatically obscene, even home movies and photos. The digital camera doesn't take the picture knowing it's a penis, nothing in the code betrays anything. It's pixels -- it could be a penis -- it could be a banana.

Rather than go through every image personally, the revised TOU will conduct a word search using a program and flag itself in order to keep the government from jumping in and shutting down Tribe. The 'community' will do some of it but most of that community will be represented by the outside 'advisor'. To keep from pissing off the advisor and giving it the excuse to shut you down, you will 'tag' the hot topic words yourself.

You (Wade or Warren) or a team of 'advisors' are going to go through the entire website -- flagging 'words'.

It's condescending that you're pretending we don't know this -- especially you Shatter. Don't think I don't appreciate everything you know about code and security because I do. However, everyone around here knows the issue isn't about code at all, it's about words and words being 'hacked' for content and as a writer and as a person who participates on several writing tribes, I find that insulting.

Now on to something obscene.

In Thomas Harris' book, Hannibal; the lead antagonist is not Lecter but a child molester who fed chocolate to the kids in Bible Camp in exchange for sexual favors. Harris, being somewhat fluent in law enforcement lingo, understands where the use of language came from. 'Taking the Chocolate' is a term you might find on a playing card in 'Candyland', on the surface it's a very innocent term. The game in prison begins in all innocence, an offer of an actual candy bar to a new arrival in a 'friendly' gesture, something that looks on the surface like 'welcome to the prison'. The new guy eats the candy bar in gratitude, maybe thinking 'well, prison won't be so bad. Now, fifteen minutes to a half hour later, the guy who gave you the candy bar asks to get it back. And in the mouth or in the ass, he's going to get it back because you 'took' it from him. There in a brief introduction to some of the language found in jail. In jail, it is a prison term for rape. Rape has nothing to do with sex. Rape is all about coercion, power, violence and intimidation.

For a new guy who doesn't know the language, it's a trap. For someone who does know the lingo, it creates an opportunity to make decisions.

A seasoned vet of the prison system knows to hit immediatly without hesitation, or with just enough hesitation to throw off the opponent's game. Hit the big guy in the throat, kick him in the balls, dig out his eyes and rip off ears. That's a really tough decision to make but considering the alternatives, some will just decide to make it instinctively. If you refuse the chocolate, there's a measure of respect and that might be enough to get you off the hook, maybe. At the very least, it will buy you time.

The other option is taking the chocolate, figuring that since you're gonna get raped either way, you might as well get a free candy bar out of it.

Some of you are implying that Warren is selling out by running ads. That's stupid. It's stupid to think that it's all about the advertising because it isn't. He didn't start Tribe for that reason. He started Tribe because he was interested in people and he wanted to be entertained by reading these posts. He named it tribe because he had a sense of community and that probably hasn't changed.

He also knows that here, 'we' are the media and the entertainment, the big show and the reason he is getting a lot of those ad dollars. Warren, Wade, Paul et al, are probably infuriated that the government is wandering in here and raping their business, just as it is infuriating to us because it's raping our words and work. I don't blame them for doing what they're doing to Tribe.

At the same time, I dislike seeing posts that say 'everything is all right' with the decision and that arguing points with you won't change anything. That's trying to slant the issue without actually giving us any real information or answers to direct questions. Arguing with the guys who cobbled together the obscenity policy insults 'my' intelligence by wasting it. Honestly, I have better things to do.

Now Shatter, saying the lawyers are going to handle it is also condescending as it implies that none of us have any personal responsibility on the matter. That kind of thinking should be checked, as even some utter dumb shit participating in a free society and free media environment can pull off a phrase that changes the argument, even if it just means responding and cutting back on them. Being a troll, you should know that as you probably get it often. I know I do -- scholarship is part of the fun.

**This brings up the idea of civil disobedience and some options I've found in dissecting an 'obscene' metaphor.**

Delete my 'obscene' material because Wade sent me a memo because that is the equavilent of taking the chocolate. I won't leave tribe voluntarily since that equals refusing the chocolate but accepting your eventual rape. I won't fight pre-emptively because I'll just get my ass kicked anyway and add insult to injury by making assumptions.

What I will do is 'know' the language and spend my time playing chess in the yard. I'll post just as I always have and it will be flagged. I will document the flag and the reason for it as a means of defining what 'obscenity' is. Then as each posting is inevitably deleted I will post something else, which will eventually disappear. As the borders are defined and the patterns of thinking becomes apparant, I will deal with the 'advisors' the same way Hannibal dealt with Krassner and eat their brains as they wander in. Each one of you should do the same.

Possibly I will disappear as a result of playing this game. If so, my profile will be gone. It won't be unsubscribed, it will be gone.

That won't mean I ran, that will mean 'Tribe Inc.' took me off tribe and ended the fight.

Now, if and when you are deleted, take your act to myspace or to one of the other tribe alternatives that are going to spring up. Take your gripe to the press and learn to write a letter or a press release. But most of all, remain loyal to Tribe and the opportunity for dissent and scholarship that Tribe provides. After all, it is 'your' forum until they say otherwise.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Paragraph 5 of TOU -- watch for copyright violations Thu, December 29, 2005 - 3:14 PM

2006-01-22T06:08:39Z

http://people.tribe.net/mike_c/blog&topicId=30bed5c6-ecb7-476d-9f36-c3b22edda457
This blog entry is going through revisions as the debate rages. If some of it has the feel of being incomplete -- you're right.

The source of all the trouble resides in changes to the wording of Paragraph 5 of the Tribe 'Terms of Use' (TOU), revised 12/20/05

>>We do not claim ownership of the content you post or otherwise provide to the Service.

However, you hereby grant, and agree to grant as an effect of posting or otherwise providing content, the following license: to the public, a license for personal non-commercial use; and to Tribe, a perpetual license to use, copy, distribute, display, perform, and modify any and all content that you post on the Service.

You represent and warrant that you have not granted and will not grant any rights inconsistent with this license."

So now that tribe has reorganized the TOU, one has to start to wonder how ownership is redefined according to the contract, or more succinctly: what is ownership worth? From this, it is simply that ownership is only worth the amount of effort which you put in to defend it.

The artist won't defend it. If they do, they are no longer an artist as inspiration becomes tied up with struggle. Art becomes conflict. The only way to properly defend against the policy is to withdraw from the forum.

Will this reveal what is missing from Tribe. Probably not immediatly. In the long run -- perhaps.

As a small effort, before redundancy takes over, I should say that there are several problems with this clause in the TOU (besides the fact that it will keep artists and writers from advertising their work).

Some of the loopholes I have found in the contract.

1. Any alt can come on in and post work that may be copyrighted and anyone on Tribe Inc. can come in here and capitalize on 'modifying or performing' said work -- all without the say of the original author until that author discovers said content in a commercial or the cineplex. The way the clause is worded, any fool or script reader in Hollywood can post copyrighted material through tribe as a way to launder content and liability.

2. The clause needs to have a 'specific date' on it so that material posted before it went into effect has 'grandfathered' protection from modification or performance. Tribe members, alts or agents of tribe members must have the right to delete any posts or halt usage on materials submitted prior to the change in TOU, otherwise Tribe Inc. is opening itself to all sorts of potential liability.

3. Rights to distribute should be electronic rights only since this is the medium that Tribe currently uses. All other forms should be off limits. Also postings should be given 'one time rights' only with the content reverting back to author once the post is made.

These three are suggested to limit the liability and potential lawsuits that Tribe may receive in modifying or performing (ie. using) copyrighted material. All of these potential situations should be taken into account when you revise Paragraph 5. A possible schematic to look into can be found here if you're looking for a base (for tribe or your own website).

creativecommons.org/text/

In the meantime, it's best to stay informed of changes at Tribe and make sure all bases are covered. If you have work posted in Tribe that you want to retain ownership on, it's best that you remove the content. If the work is hidden within threads, talk to the moderator of the tribe and odds are they will remove it.

If you aren't up to date, the odds are you might be in for a rude awakening.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Yes there are some big changes in tribe.

2006-01-22T06:06:16Z

i found this interesting post in another thread

http://people.tribe.net/mike_c/blog&topicId=983f04a5-10ff-4d5e-a23b-a9992a57f106

"New Tribe is It!" Sat, January 21, 2006 - 3:48 PM

Yes there are some big changes in tribe.

Tribe has changed it's format to something that is in some ways not only ugly but worse than ugly, giving the participant a vanilla so inhumanly cruel on 'human' eyes that the eye cannot remain on the page long enough to recognize a difference between ugliness and beauty.

Why would they do this? For answers, look at what happened to coca cola following the change in formula.

The classic coke merchandising 'event' was essentially a version of the bait and switch reworked, a sort of bait and switch . . . and "switch" again.

In the classic bait and switch, a mark is lured in with the promise of getting something for an ideal price only to have it changed to something else once there. Timeshares and Fitness Clubs often work this sort of gambit along with those mailers saying 'come pick up your prize' that were so prevalent in the 80's.

In Coca-Cola's case, Coke in a 'bonehead' move switched it's formula to sweeten it as a response to Pepsi's taste-test ad campaign. The end result of this was a product so terrible that it caused unanimous revulsion, revulsion to a point where the mark is not only perfectly happy with the original product that they were previously overlooking, but clamoring to the point of threatening activism and boycotts. Given the period of protest and consumer loss, Coke's return to the original formula . . . essentially made the old thing 'new' again . . . but with important amendments.

'Coca Cola', no longer being sold as 'New Coke' or simply 'Coke'. As a result of the **failure**, 'Coca Cola' becomes 'Classic Coke' and the consumers express gratitude not only for having the old coke back; the consumer is empowered by the fact that their 'taste' and their grass roots campagn made a difference.

As a sort of marketing guy myself, I can almost grin and think of the brilliance of such a campaign if it were applied to Tribe.

Think about it. 'Coke' actually got free ads for new 'Classic Coke' from the scandal and the newness of the marketing campaign made Pepsi have to scramble for damage control and up their ad output to compensate for the shift in the cola war. Furthermore, the marketing formula (or marketing scam) could never be used again because it would immediatly get recognized as a scam and a manipulation of the consumer base.

As an end result, Pepsi was fucked both coming and going: the ads for 'new coke', the backlash and the return to 'classic coke' being like what Reagan's Star Wars program did for the Russian Military even if they were throwing the money into junk. Throwing money into ads makes the competitors compete . . . but Pepsi's staying the course was ineffective at drawing the press.

Bad decision making by Coca-Cola actually created the press, the bad jokes on late night talk shows transformed into constant TV time. The backlash actually became the 'free' advertising that won the day for Coca-Cola, with the end result forcing Pepsi to shift to youth marketing as a result of the damage.

Tribe might be doing the same thing and they would be pretty cagey if this were so. In this case, it would be to hide the new formula already in existence. After all, the repression of community flagging and the new TOU phrasing *were* already a major change to the formula of Tribe. To take away from the more adult arguments on censorship, Tribe has changed the format to something that in blinding the eye would camoflague the content. Perfect!

Then they will switch it back and all the dumb comments about successful 'beta' testing will go by the wayside and tribe will have their old tribe back with a new found solidarity within the 'classic' formula of community flagging and perpetual license.

But then I looked again, really looked at the layout, and thought as a marketer. Then listened a while to the comments being posted by designers . . . and my smile turned upside down.

Soon I knew from looking at the format that this was not about pleasing the old tribe consumers at all. It actually isn't even about bringing in new people to post entries on threads. In fact, there will be no switch back to the old product at all because Elliot the designer didn't actually fuck it up. Elliot was simply following the orders given by a philosophical shift in management.

In the old tribe format, you could insert ads into the threads and they would basically be ignored because the format was so bordered and sectioned out. Even without 'Mozilla', the average person could screen out the ads because they were blocks that were distinctive enough from the content of the threads. The design drew the eye to the threads because the old format made that content a priority.

The **new** tribe format has no lines to draw the attention of the eye because it was specifically designed that way. The text is small and runs the entire length of the page because it 'is' hard to see. If your eye follows the line of text from one entire expanse of white to the other, you end up finding the only lines on the page, which are the 'ads'. The actual 'pain' of the white screen is to draw the eye to all parts of it for a relief, for any darker fields and since the color of the text blends in with the white . . . the eye is once again drawn to where there are lines and color, the only place being the 'ads'. Amount of clickthru from one step to another again exposes the viewer to more 'ads'.

Essentially what you are seeing is a captive market strategy tested to it's limit. Tribe relies on participation from it's members and the exhilirating feeling that such exhibitionism creates. In this new format, Tribe is dimming the lights down on the exhibitionism of the text (you the members) by brightening everything up to a torturous level and removing all contrast. Everything as a result is now exhibited equally -- except for the ads.

The market is still participatory and as such, will bring in a new audience to post and watch the response but here is where the dividing line will be between old tribe members and new ones.

New tribe members will hook up and buy because they have no other choice. This is the prototype for 'all' new chat room formats because it is a 'smart' way to sell ads and clickthroughs. Expect similar changes across the board from Friendster to Orkut as a result.

Old tribe members will learn from this experience and their protests and these threads (including this one) that participation doesn't necessarily mean making a difference or getting to the truth at the heart of an argument. Their participation will still be there but it will drop off. Resistance will become more evenly toned, and the brightness of the thoughts expressed will be dimmed not only in color and contrast; but in taste and philosophy.

The gambit is this . . . if there are more looks at the ads then the strategy wins. If there are less looks due to customers eyes rebelling against the design, then it will fail. Less looks are actually incorporated into the model and probably was the only thing gauged during the beta test.

In this case, less logins probably equaled the same number of looks at the ads so Tribe Inc proceeded with the change (despite 90% disapproval from members)

Again, this is not to detract from the arguments against the wording of the new TOU or community flagging. The changes were not made with the participant in threads or the audience in mind. The only reason the changes were made was to sell more ads.

So in conclusion, yes the new format of tribe sucks and it sucks for all the design flaws listed above. But to clarify beyond just insult to the designers, it's the reasoning behind the change that sucks beyond all measure.
Sat, January 21, 2006 - 3:48 PM - permalink - 0 Comments

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon Stardust Team?

2006-01-16T00:03:25Z

Stardust returned to Earth early this morning bearing particles from comet Wild-2. Nasa and UC Berkely are recruiting volunteers to scan the aerogel* for comet particles. Like the SETI@Home project, this project uses your computer to analyze data. Unlike SETI@Home, it also uses you: participants have the opportunity to visually scan images and identify comet particles which will allow scientists to locate them in the actual aerogel*.

Your Aeon editors plan to use some of our copious spare time to participate in the Stardust@Home project, and we plan to create an Aeon team to track our progress, so if you'd like to join us, pre-register below and we'll post details here when the project starts (probably in March).

http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/

*Aerogel is really cool!
http://stardust.jpl.nasa.gov/photo/aerogel.html

Marti
Celestial Explorer

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

Seeking Writers' Group

2006-01-14T22:32:36Z

Hi! I'll apologize in advance if this is too far off topic for this tribe, but I felt this was the best place to reach the kind of people I need to reach.

I'm looking for a solid, professional, serious writers' group (in Seattle) that might have a spot open for me. One that focuses on novels or short stories, if possible.

I'm a professional writer transitioning from freelance pseudo-fiction to fiction straight-up, and I could use all the support I can muster.

Any ideas?
Thanks!
Angel...

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 3 replies

AeTribers News, anyone?

2006-01-06T08:19:25Z

We don't want this to be all about Aeon as much as we want it to be all about YOU, so please add to this news topic any sales or other writing or personal news you think we oughta know about. We want to hear what you're doing and what's happening for you.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 104 replies

#5 review at Tangent

2005-12-26T07:06:05Z

At Tangent Online, Sherwood Smith offers up a thoroughly positive review of Aeon 5.

http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=640&Itemid=267

"...This issue is strong all the way through—a series of stand-out stories that should appeal to a wide spectrum of readers...."

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

This is the title of this post.

2005-12-22T02:20:07Z

Wow.

http://www.math.uchicago.edu/~chruska/recursive/moser.html

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

The Aeon Editors sloooowwww doooowwwwn

2005-12-18T19:53:15Z

Our recent move of house and offices has slowed our normal editorial speed WAY down, so if you're used to getting acknowledgement in a matter of hours you may now be waiting a couple of weeks. Now that all computers (and editors) are up and running, we are trying to close this backlog as we log, file, and acknowledge stories that came in as long ago as late November.

Please forgive our badly-timed case of the slows, and keep on sending those stories.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Rich Horton on Aeon's First Year

2005-12-13T17:45:09Z

He likes us! He really likes us!

http://webnews.sff.net/read?cmd=read&group=sff.people.richard-horton&artnum=3234

Thanks to Eric Marin for sending us the link!

Aeon Editors

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 10 replies

Convention Schedule?

2005-12-13T13:50:17Z

I'm interested in what conventions the members of this tribe will be attending in the next year.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Grumpy about grammar by Fred Brown

2005-12-09T00:23:44Z

Article Launched: 11/27/2005 01:00:00 AM

fred brown
Grumpy about grammar
By Fred Brown

The Grammar Grump has noted several things in language usage recently that make him less than thankful, as one should be this time of year.

For example, Grump is a junior. He has the same name as his late father. But he is Fred Jr., not Brown Jr., on second reference. The way it's supposed to go is like this: If a son has the same name as his father, he is Joe Q. Blow Jr., or, in later references in the same literary work - such as a newspaper story - Joe Q. Jr. He is not Blow Jr. His children do not have to carry the burden of Jr. They are unadulterated Blows.

Then there's the matter of who, as opposed to that. "Who" should be for people - and possibly certain distinguished animals, including favored dogs and cats who sleep on one's bed, as well as major racehorses, who don't.

Whatever happened to who, the Grump asks? One thing that happened is that Microsoft Word puts a green squiggly line under "who," making it a suspect usage. If one looks into Bill Gates' preferences underlying the green squiggle, it's usually for "whom" or "that."

The Grump argues that "that" is for things, while "who" is for people. But one finds even high school principals, who should know better (not "that" should know better), saying (in a headline in that other paper), "'Kids that have hope, do well,' principal says."

Here are some of the Grammar Grump's other crotchets:

"Zero percent interest." What does this mean? "Percent" translates to "of 100." So no part of 100 means absolutely nothing. Literally. Why not just say you're not charging interest? Or are you, you sneaky devil?

Missing and extra words. The same newspaper that says "The reception will be from 6-8 p.m." will also say "between 30 percent and 40 percent." Why not "the reception will be from 6 to 8 p.m." and "between 30 and 40 percent"? Write the way people talk. It's clearer, and it's less irritating.

Advocating "for." It's perfectly permissible, and in fact preferable, for an advocate (noun) to simply advocate (verb) some action. This would make that person an "advocate for" that action, but he would not be an advocate advocating "for" that action.

Apostrophes for possessives, as in four Pepsis vs. four Pepsi's. How much ink is wasted annually, worldwide, on those unnecessary, tiny possessive caterpillars? Maybe

the uncertainty here is that "Pepsis" looks like a gastrointestinal problem - or possibly merely a gastrointestinal "issue," another weasel word that has gained undeserved acceptance recently.

Gender avoidance. There's a TV ad that suggests, "Ask your agent if they are a Realtor." Even when they're referring to all men or all women (such as an NFL team or an LPGA tournament), TV talkers say "they" instead of "he" or "she." There's an exaggerated fear of being politically incorrect. "Every parent should teach their children what this day is about." Why not "all parents"? Worse, here's something uttered on NPR recently, in a report on circumcision: "It's a procedure that a man undergoes once in their life." If there were ever a situation where the correct "his life" is appropriate, this is it.

"Mic" as short for microphone. To the Grump's reader's ear, "mic" should be pronounced "mick," not "mike." Would you pronounce those ubiquitous Bic pens as "bike"? Or "I lic Ic" as that historic campaign slogan "I like Ike"? (By the way, Bill Gates puts a full red squiggly alert under "mic," indicating it's beyond the pale.)
There's more, such as "Where are you at?" instead of "Where are you?" Or the misleading use of parentheses in phone numbers, as in (303) 820-1201. It's no longer optional, folks; you must dial 303. Or the "six-person team" instead of the "six-member team." "Person" is used far too often, most likely because of the Gender Avoidance Syndrome (GAS).

As the Grammar Grump often tells the students who are unfortunate enough to have to listen to him in journalism classes: English is an evolving language, but it doesn't change every time someone makes a mistake.

Fred Brown, retired Capitol Bureau chief for The Denver Post, is also a former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

2 Brooms and a Wedding

2005-12-06T05:12:09Z

Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a
while they got to know each other so well, they decided to
get married.

One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the
other the groom broom.

The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white
dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo.

The wedding was lovely.

After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the
bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, "I think I am going to have a little whisk broom!!!"

"IMPOSSIBLE !!" said the groom broom.

"WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!"

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

John Scalzi on nonWriters and their "only if" laments

2005-12-04T21:29:21Z

People find out I'm a writer and they tell me about their great ideas and what they'd write if they found the time, the money, etc...

Today, reading John Scalzi's blog www.scalzi.com/whatever (He's the author of Old Man's War - a truly inspired Heinleinesque Sci-Fi novel), I came across this bit of brilliance.

. . . writers don't write because someone dropped a fat wad of cash in front of them, they write because if they didn't they'd go absolutely and completely bongo-striking insane.

Conversely, if I had a million dollars, I would slap it all down on the table in front of any jackass that said they could write a fabulous book if only they had a big fat advance, and tell them they could have every single penny if they could bang out a genuinely salable book in six months (which is about the amount of time writing a book is assumed to take by various publishers I've known). And the reason I would slap down that cash would be that it could not possibly be any more safe than if I tied it up in T-bills, because your basic loudmouth non-writer is no more capable of writing a salable book than I am of piloting a 747, and roughly for the same reason -- it's a skill you have to learn, baby, and one generally learns the writing skill by writing most days of your life (and generally -- alas -- you'll be doing that for little if any pay). The only way a non-writer is likely to produce a genuinely publishable manuscript is if he takes some of the advance money and hires a ghostwriter, but that's not really the same.

Anyway, people who say they can write a book if only they had a fat advance don't bother me; publishers don't go around offering fat advances to random passersby just for a happy chuckle. You generally have to guzzle some famous person's sexual organ first, and most people aren't good looking enough to do that on a regular basis (and those that are have other ways to get their scratch than to pester a publisher). Honestly, the best response to these would-be writers would be to say, "And if someone gave me money for no good reason, I would study the dark ninja ways" with as straight a face as one possibly can. If the non-writer has any brains at all, he'd recognize that you are mocking him and why you are doing it; if not, well, then, I guess you can talk about ninjas. Either way, one shouldn't waste too many brain cycles on it.
http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/003880.html#comments

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

Im new to the Tribe

2005-11-26T18:12:04Z

Hi everyone !!

a know a couple of people here, so i thought id give this tribe a try

My name us Steve and i currently reside in Colorado, 45 and single and also a write, ive had a few shorts published online and wanted to give Aeon a try.

I have several ideas for a series of shorts and full length books...i like writing, Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mystery and would like meeting other writiers and maybe doing collaberations as well

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 8 replies

Aeon 5?

2005-11-24T00:25:28Z

Any updates on how it's going? What's the ETA?

--M

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 11 replies

Tangent reviews Aeon 4

2005-10-28T16:57:31Z

Here's the link:

http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=598&Itemid=267

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Tangent Reviews Aeon One

2005-10-25T21:14:08Z

When I met up with Harold Gross (half of Gordon Gross, who wrote "Little House on the Accretion Disk," Aeon One) the other night at a Hallowe'en party, he mentioned that he'd read a Tangent Online review of Aeon One. Thinking I must really have missed something on previous visits, I went looking for it, only to find it had been written only a week or so before our meeting. We're pleased as heck that Tangent thought enough of Aeon Two and Three to go back and take a look at our first issue, and they liked most of what they saw, so we're even more pleased about that. Here's a link:

http://www.tangentonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=586&Itemid=267

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

World Fantasy Con Room

2005-10-10T18:05:29Z

I've decided not to go to World Fantasy Con in Madison. I do, however, have a room reserved at the Concourse Hotel where the convention is being held.

I'm going to cancel my reservation soon, but if anyone wants that room I can transfer it to their name instead of simply cancelling.

- Rick

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

NaNoWriMo

2005-10-06T20:57:28Z

Came across this on the Writing Fiction tribe today. I've seen mentions before, but this is the first time I actually went and looked at it: National Novel Writing Month begins 1 November, for anyone who needs a fire it under them to write that next novel.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Aeon at NASFiC, WorldCon

2005-10-03T04:51:38Z

Your Aeon editors will be at CascadiaCon in Seattle and WorldCon in Glasgow this year. Will you?

Bridget McKenna will attend WorldCon in Glasgow, Scotland August 4-8, and would love to meet Aeon authors and readers. Look her up!

http://www.interaction.worldcon.org.uk/

We'll be hosting a party at CascadiaCon (NASFiC) September 1-5 in Seattle. Watch this space for details as the date grows nearer. For more on this convention, visit the CascadiaCon website.

http://www.cascadiacon.org/

Let us know if you'll attend either or both. Aeon authors get a nifty Aeon name badge! :)

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 30 replies

Aeon Five Preview Live 28 September 2005

2005-10-02T00:30:01Z

The preview of Aeon Speculative Fiction Five, which will be published on 1 November 2005, is up as of this evening at

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeonfive.html

Remember if you're forwarding this link to anyone to get the full link from the page, as Tribe will perform its usual surgery on this one.

This is another fabulous issue thanks to all our fabulous authors.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

Tangent Review of Aeon 3

2005-09-22T18:59:30Z

www.tangentonline.com has a nice review of Aeon Three. Enjoy! Tom Doyle

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

On and Off-Planet

2005-09-08T21:56:57Z

Thought I'd fill in a bit about why I have been so invisible lately. If you haven't missed me, please don't say so; I'm SO sensitive.

The day before I left the US of A, the laptop I was planning to take broke down in a major hardwareish way. While I was away I tried to keep minimally au courant via Internet cafes, which are plentiful and convenient in London and a bit thin on the ground anywhere else. I was able to take care of top-level matters and not much beyond for a period of three weeks.

When I returned it was to a DSL provider who was convinced we had cancelled our contract and had been cheerfully returning our checks whilst cutting off our service. I had tens of thousands of unopened mails on just one account, and no way to bring it through the spam rules in Outlook, which would have eliminated 90% of the bulk.

Once again I tried to handle the most urgent matters by hanging out in a neighborhood coffee house a couple of hours a day on a borrowed computer, but I invariably found myself in one place and the files I needed in another, and at the end of that time had STILL not managed to see most of my mail.

Now we've finally convinced Qwest we really ARE subscribers, and after being home for three weeks I'm finally close to being dug out of the giant hole; at least I think that's daylight I see up there; might only be the headlight of a descending locomotive...

Good to be back, and to be back. Mostly. Nasfic was fun, but my energy level was too low to appreciate it properly. I got to one party. Count 'em. One. Hi again to everyone I got to see, and Hi for the first time to anyone I didn't. If you were there and missed us, the trick to finding us, for future reference, is looking in the bar, where you'll find us drinking endless pints of soda and lime and endless lattes, forming infinitely reconfiguring amoebas of tables and chairs as our mates come into and go from daylong breakfast/lunch/conversation/meeting things.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

IROSF review of issue #4

2005-09-06T23:27:15Z

Looks like he liked it. My story didn't quite work for him, but Bluejack has some wonderful things to say about the issue as a whole.

http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10194

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

The bad news is...

2005-09-02T20:05:29Z

...there won't be an Aeon party at CascadiaCon. Sorry, but we weren't quick enough on the draw to get our ducks in a row, and other metaphorical nonsense.

The good new is we will be there, and so will many of you, and we're going to do our best to have a meet-up, maybe a breakfast. Watch this space. If we know something, we'll tell you.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 5 replies

Aeon Four Preview Live 11 July 2005

2005-08-08T20:51:31Z

I meant to post this yesterday, but there you are. A preview of Aeon Four is live at http://www.aeonmagazine.com. Enjoy!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 14 replies

Preview Aeon

2005-07-26T17:11:24Z

Use the following links to preview each available issue of Aeon Speculative Fiction:

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeonone.html

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeontwo.html

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/aeonthree.html

Enjoy!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 6 replies

Scorpius books by Aeon authors

2005-07-25T02:45:56Z

Some of you may not be aware that a lot of our Aeon authors have story collections and novels at Scorpius Digital Publishing, and available from the same retailers that sell Aeon. Fictionwise has these titles in multiple electronic formats. I've linked to a few of the book pages below.

Each book page contains a FREE short story or novel excerpt.

Mars Dust and Magic Shows, by Mark Bourne
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/marsdust.html

Orphans, by Steven R. Boyett
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/orphans.html

Möbius Highway, by Howard V. Hendrix
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/mobius.html

Tales for the Long Rains, by Kij Johnson
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/longrains.html

American Sorrows, by Jay Lake
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/americansorrows.html

Dreamlode, by John Meaney
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/dreamlode.html

Neuron Tango, by Dana William Paxson
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/neurontango.html

Something Rich and Strange, by Carrie Richerson
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/srs.html

Vermifuge, and Other Toxic Cocktails, by Lorelei Shannon
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/vermifuge.html

Hardwired, by Walter Jon Williams
http://www.scorpiusdigital.com/bookpages/hardwired.html

Enjoy!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Tribe Members' Recent Aeon Sales

2005-07-20T17:37:05Z

Since we started dancing around this particular fire, several AeSF Tribe members have sold to us. Off the top of my head, these would be:

Dana William Paxson (whose story "The Buddha Lectures on Cosmology" appeared in Aeon Two) sold us three flash pieces which we'll be running all at once in Aeon Five: "Adrift on the Mare Commutatio," "Appeal," and "The Visitors on the Fourth."

Ken Scholes sold us "East of Eden and Just a Bit South...", which is very likely to be part of Aeon Six.

Lavie Tidhar sold us "Midnight Folk," which is currently scheduled for Aeon Five.

All these issue placements are subject to change, but it's our best bet at present.

If I've missed anyone, heap shame and conumely upon my head, or just tell me.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 14 replies

July Locus

2005-07-20T17:35:00Z

Nick Gevers, one of Locus' short fiction reviewers, had some very nice things to say in the July issue about the stories in Aeon Three, singling out Jeremy Minton (whose story got a coveted Locus Recommended - you go, Jeremy!), Nisi Shawl, Jay Lake, Tom Doyle, and Ken Rand for special praise.

We're chuffed, of course, when this sort of thing happens, but we're not surprised, 'cause we know all our authors are the greatest.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Utopia vs. Dystopia

2005-07-19T16:44:21Z

I've heard that editors would like to publish more Utopian short fiction. Is this true?

The reason I ask is that I'm sitting here with dozens and dozens of story ideas floating about and not a single one of them Utopian. What are your favorite Utopian short stories? Why do you think that writing it (for me at least) produces such a block?

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 17 replies

Hello!

2005-07-14T21:35:19Z

Ah, finally made it out here. Hello, Everyone. My name is Laura J. Underwood and I am the author of numerous short stories and novels, and just stopped in to say HI!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

Dear British AeTribers:

2005-07-14T01:46:17Z

I haven't written yet about recent events in London because it's hard to say anything about the events of 7/7 that will be at all meaningful. Not all the fires, floods, and earthquakes that the planet can send people could be equivalent to the knowledge that someone out there is willing to kill you to make a political point that actually can NOT be made by killing people. I can't imagine having to commute under those circumstances, much less how to get on with life, but I also know how courageous the British people are, and I know you're going to do.

You are in our thoughts.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon authors onboard so far...

2005-07-06T05:44:09Z

Since I can't assume that every one of you has read every issue of Aeon, I thought I'd give a rundown on the Aeon authors who have joined our tribe to date:

Tom Doyle ("The Garuda Bird," Aeon Three)

Rob Furey ("Space Invaders" (nonfiction) Aeon Three, and lots of upcoming science columns)

Joseph Haines ("Copper Angels," upcoming in Aeon Four)

Jeremy Minton ("The Wrong End of the Stick," Aeon Three)

Dana William Paxson ("The Buddha Lectures on Cosmology," Aeon Two)

Lawrence M. Schoen ("The Game of Leaf and Smile," upcoming in Aeon Four)

Gary W. Shockley ("Dali, at Age 26, Believing Himself to be Heavyweight Champion of the World," Aeon Two)

Pras Stillman ("Eyes the Color of Earth as Seen From Above," Aeon Two)

Jaime Voss ("Asha" (poem) upcoming in Aeon Five)

Lori Ann White ("The Silver Land," Aeon One)

Welcome to the Aeon tribe, all of youse.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 10 replies

A Question on Simultaneous Submissions

2005-07-06T00:15:21Z

In another Tribe the subject came up and I gave an answer . . . I also linked the thread to Aeon where this question might get a more reasoned answer than that which I gave.

http://minneapolis.tribe.net/thread/cc9a7d8d-63d2-40fe-b664-6f686d8d24b2?tribeid=116dd8f1-e55b-4368-a4a5-86870346b84d&threads=true&r=10497#$message.id

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 12 replies

Rant Alert

2005-06-28T20:42:11Z

We just put up a new blog at http://www.aeonmagazine.com/weblog.html. It's an undisguised and unapologetic rant. Check it out.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 5 replies

Why do we do this?

2005-06-25T21:59:50Z

There's a largely hidden discussion over in the "What's so great about Tribe?" thread, all about why we're writing, and for whom. Rick, Jennifer, and Melissa are all raising interesting points about whether writing for the short fiction markets is practical, given the size of the market, vs self-publishing on the Web.

Would youse guys like to continue that topic here? It would help us not lose it later. If so, kind of sum up your major points for the rest of us.

Thanks.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 22 replies

Welcome to the Aeon tribe!

2005-06-25T21:52:56Z

We, your Aeon editors, created this tribe so Aeon authors, artists, and readers can come together and talk. Post story comments, questions, whatever's on your mind!

Thanks for joining us!

The Aeon Editors
www.aeonmagazine.com

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 78 replies

What's So Great About Tribe?

2005-06-22T23:33:24Z

While I know that many of you are new here, having been invited to this tribe as a way of establishing an Aeon Community, it's worth a post to explain what I think are Tribe.net's attractions.

One of the things I enjoy is starting conversations pertinent to topics I'm exploring in my writing. An example is this thread I started in the Crossroads of Religion Tribe regarding my views on Christianity and the Poor: http://minneapolis.tribe.net/thread/d534da45-0278-4c4f-a386-7f1174045daa?tribeid=e363b55c-c99e-47a9-a47d-04ce09d6b68c&threads=true&r=10497#a657149a-653c-4f47-b6a5-20af1a990204

While the conversation is mostly pointless blather, I have found several nuggets that have made it into my notebook and will appear in dialogue for various characters.

Another interesting thing found here are remarkable conversations that are just rich with story ideas. An example in the Cognitive Science Tribe regarding Autism as Human Evolution. Sure saves a lot of research to have it all at the fingertip (all tribe archives are easily searchable, by the way) http://minneapolis.tribe.net/thread/46ada358-3381-46a7-8953-383db2d4b013?tribeid=403717b6-8597-44ee-91bf-ccb34f63df1e&threads=true&r=10497#0e636bb3-2b5b-4ca2-8c35-e8db78faf32d

In my political tribes (a passion for argument, this young padawan has) I can get all the current news without searching the net, since the participants post everything interesting as soon as it appears.

I also have my own private tribe where I, and several writer friends, post stories and have on-line critique and discussion. The result of one of these critiques and rewrites will probably be the first story I send to Aeon.

Of course, the downside is that Tribe is addictive - - but what isn't?

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 13 replies

Saturday Brunch and Parade

2005-06-20T02:02:33Z

If you're in Seattle this weekend, please join us for coffee, juice, pastries, etc. Saturday morning 10am-ish on our front porch in the Center of the Universe:

202 N. 39th St.
(roughly 39th and Palatine)

206-633-2769

We've arranged for a parade at around 11 am. :) Hope to see you!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 5 replies

Another Aeon review

2005-06-19T01:30:33Z

Tangent Online (www.tangentonline.com) posted a review of Aeon 2. Take a look!

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

how do we post an avatar?

2005-06-18T23:15:09Z

I notice that only half the folks listed right now have avatars. I tried to go in and edit my profile so I could add one, but I couldn't get past a stage where it insisted on my IM handler. I don't use IM, ever, becasue AOL once turned a perfect computer into a crash bunny, entirely because of IM. Is there some way to avoid this page of the profile? (It's the same page that askes questions I would've thought verbotten, like if you're looking for "open relationships.") Anyway, I was just looking for a way to post an avatar so I'm not a police target.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 7 replies

Tribe Chat

2005-06-17T02:39:11Z

Hi folks. I have a tribe chat handle but don't see what tribe chat is. Anyone know?

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 8 replies

June IROSF Reviews Ae 3

2005-06-16T20:10:37Z

Beginning with the June issue of IROSF, recently posted, the Internet Review of Science Fiction began reviewing Aeon (Aeon Three). There's a long and mostly terrific review that has particularly nice things to say about us, especially that Tom Doyle fellow and his story "The Garuda Bird." They were also quite impressed with Dev Agarwal's "Angels of War."

http://www.irosf.com/

If you don't already have an account, you will need to subscribe, but it's US$12 for a 12-month subscription to a good online magazine about sf and fantasy.

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 2 replies

for starters

2005-06-16T20:09:09Z

Since Marti and Bridget have brought us all together, why don't they (or why don't you, Marti or Bridget) tell us how they met and decided to start Aeon. For instance, how long did it take between planning the magazine and the first issue?

Cheers,
--Chet

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 4 replies

Jeremy's Interview

2005-06-15T11:49:47Z

Combat Veteran called this to our attention in the Welcome thread, but I thought I'd call it out here where no-one will miss it: Our own Jeremy Minton ("The Wrong End of the Stick," Aeon Three) is the subject of the (09 June) John Joseph Adams interview below.

http://www.tuginternet.com/jja/journal/archives/002642.html

Among other points that make this a great interview for a new or new-ish writer is the fact that Jeremy's recent sale to F&Sf was his first. Think about that for just a moment; his first professional sale was to one of the Really Big Markets, and perhaps the hardest one to crack. I battered at that paraticular door for six years or more before anyone opened it and handed me a contract, and that's probably a more typical scenario.

Jeremy gives a lot of credit for his success to Critters (http://www.critters.org), one of the more respected and celebrated online writers' workshops, but you can critter (new verb entered into the language by these guys) a story until you're old and grey and not get a sale to Gordon van Gelder unless you've got some mad skills, and we knew Jeremy had those when we read "Stick."

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 1 reply

Shameless Promotion Department

2005-06-14T15:46:23Z

We've recently put a page up on the AeSF website from which SFWA members can request reading copies of any stories we've published. Yes, we're shameless, and there you are. We know that in spite of some wonderful critical notice we've been getting, not nearly enough people (and not to put too fine a point on it, people who can recommend stories for award consideration) have had a chance to read what we're so proud of having published. So I've included the link below; feel free to use it if you're a SFWA member, or send it to someone else who might, or both.

Oh, and Tribe will shorten this link, so you might want to "copy shortcut" rather than copy the text.

http://www.aeonmagazine.com/sfwacopies.html

Thanks for indulging our shamelessness.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Aeon Editors

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 3 replies

Our letters column

2005-06-13T17:19:40Z

We'd like you to know that we also welcome letter of comment on any story (or anything else about any published issue) that could be used in our letters column in Aeon.

"But," I hear you say, "there IS no letters column. I looked. It's not there."

No, but we'd like it to be. Fact is most people read an issue, like or don't like whatever they please about it, but unless they're a reviewer they just about never sit down to the keyboard and let the editors know what they think. So we're not too sure what people other than reviewers think, and we'd like to; we're feeling a bit like the Maytag Man here.

We're hoping this tribe might be a somewhat vocal and -- dare I say it -- opinionated bunch, and say hi, post a story comment or a comment on an issue or issues, give us some 100% soy protein meat and potatoes to get our letter column going.

If you post in this thread with a letter we'll add it to the stack; likewise if you write us at waves@aeonmagazine.com. We'd really appreciate some readers' input.

Thanks,
The Lonely Aeon Editors

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies

Aeon Retailers on the Web

2005-06-09T07:44:12Z

Here are three locations in Cspace to pick up a copy of Aeon. Go on, you know you want to...

ElectricStory.com - http://www.electricstory.com

Fictionwise.com - http://www.fictionwise.com

eBookAd.com - http://www.ebookad.com

posted in Aeon Speculative Fiction - 0 replies